Joe Rogan: Tony Ferguson Is The Best Guy Khabib Has Ever Faced

UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes Tony Ferguson is the best opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov will ever face.

Nurmagomedov is set to defend his lightweight title against Ferguson in the UFC 249 headliner on April 18 in Brooklyn, New York. It will be the fifth attempt at making the fight happen but there’s a general optimism that it will finally take place this year.

And Rogan is particularly excited by the stylistic matchup:

“It’s a great fight,” Rogan told Max Holloway on his podcast earlier this week (via BJ Penn). “I love the fight. Stylistically, [Ferguson is] the best guy that Khabib has ever faced because he can fight off his back. He’s a guy that doesn’t survive off his back, he attacks off his back.”

Holloway — who was initially set to face Ferguson for the interim lightweight title earlier this year — agreed and touched on how “El Cucuy” is a hard fighter to train for:

“This guy [Ferguson], he throws a lot of weird things from weird places,” Holloway said. “It’s hard. People don’t understand it. It’s very hard when you fight someone weird and awkward — even sparring him.

“You try to get something and then bang, he hits you with an elbow, but his head is by the ground. It’s like ‘what are you doing, Tony? How did I get [hit] with an elbow? I thought your head was over here.’”

Rogan went on to add how Ferguson is probably the most high-caliber unorthodox fighter there is in the sport of mixed martial arts today:

“He’s the most unorthodox high-level guy ever,” Rogan added. “He’s real good. At his level — I consider him a world championship caliber fighter — at his level, I don’t know of anybody that’s more unorthodox than him.

“And his f**king cardio, man… his cardio is crazy. Off the charts. I’ve never seen anybody with cardio like that.”

Do you agree with Rogan?